The Otedola-Farouk $620,000 bribe scandal took a new twist on Thursday with the mention in court of a N250bn libel suit instituted by Femi Otedola against the National Assembly; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal; and the lawmaker, Farouk Lawan. In the case, Otedola is asking Justice Peter Kekemeke of an Abuja High Court to order the respondents to pay him the sum for the loss of goodwill and patronage he suffered as a result of their actions in the course of a probe into the management of fuel subsidy regime in the country. Otedola and his company, Zenon Petroleum and Gas Limited, told the court that they had suffered grave injuries to their reputation and business image, resulting in the substantial loss of goodwill, built over the years, because of the actions of the defendants. They said they would rely on all call logs and audio-visual records of conversations and meetings with Lawan to prove the case. There had been an intense public altercation between Otedola and Lawan few months back with the businessman accusing Lawan of demanding and collecting the sum of US$620,000 as part payment of a $3m bribe deal from him. He said Lawan blackmailed in order not to mention the name of his company among those that defrauded the country during the fuel subsidy regime.
